In Greenery We Trust
Category: Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Floral surveys, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Shimoni Forest | Date: Nov 18 2009 | By: gvikenya
If anyone has ever tried to read and understand a botany book (botanists excluded), then you will understand what I mean when I say it’s nigh on impossible, and vaguely similar to reading a foreign language. This is the problem we have encountered for quite a while now…
As part of our forest research programme, we conduct fruit and flower surveys along our transects. This involves spotting any tree, shrub, plant or vine within 10m either side of the transect that is in fruit or flower. We then collect a sample, take loads of photos (of the fruit or flower, the leaves and the bark) and take it back to base where we press and dry it. Once pressed and dried, we back them onto cardboard and add it to our herbarium catalogue.
Solanum incanum
We do this to establish the floral makeup of the forest, monitor the presence or absence of species over time and in relation to disturbance, and to correlate with sightings of animal species, specifically the primate species.
Of course all of this is useless if one cannot identify the species! So instead of spending countless days fruitlessly battling with the botany books, we have started making regular visits to a friendly local botanist, who effortlessly breezes through our samples and puts us all to shame!
George assessing a tree species
The man’s name is Sayeed, and he works for National Museums of Kenya Coastal Forest Research Unit, and is based in Ukunda which is about one hour fifteen minutes drive from Shimoni. National Museums of Kenya is the governmental organisation that is responsible for all of Kenya’s cultural and heritage sites, monuments, areas and issues. The have a vested interest in the coastal forests of Kenya, due to the presence of Kaya’s, which are traditional religious sites and shrines in these forests. If you would like to know more about those, you can visit some of our earlier blogs which go into them in more detail.
One of the more spectacular flowers!
Sayeed finished high school in Kenya, but did not go further in his education than that. He has been working for NMK for 16 years now, and everything he knows is pretty much self taught. And trust me when I tell you it’s a lot! We must have been in his office for at least 6 hours, and we probably went through several hundred specimens and photographs, with only 3 remaining ‘unidentified’ at the end. And all of this – without a book! Occasionally he would go rifling through his extensive herbarium (which puts ours to absolute shame!) to pinpoint the exact species, but most of them he would simply tell you after a moments thought.
Measuring the Diameter at Breast Height (DBH)
When asked how he became so good, or why he does it, he simply replies “I like plants”. Good answer I say! Some of his other duties include maintaining and updating the herbarium and looking after the hundreds upon hundreds of indigenous saplings in the NMK tree nursery which is used for replanting in degraded areas.
People like Sayeed truly inspire me, by their unrivalled and awe inspiring knowledge, as well as their dedication to their work. And some of the work Sayeed does is really quite amazing. We are currently raising money for tree saplings on behalf of Friends of Shimoni Forest, and when we have enough to buy and plant these saplings in Shimoni forest, I know exactly whose advice I am going to seek!
*if you would like to help Friends of Shimoni Forest or to find out more please visit www.justgiving.com/shimoni
Tags: , animal species, botanist, botany book, Coastal Forest, Coastal Forest Research Unit, correlate, cultural and heritage, degraded areas, diameter at breast height, floral makeup, foregin language, forest research programme, Friends of Shimoni Forest, fruit and flower surveys, governmental organisation, herbarium, herbarium catalogue, indigenous saplings, Kaya, Kenya, monuments, National Museums of Kenya, photographs, primate species, relation to disturbace, replanting, shrines, shrub, Solanum incanum, specimens, traditional religeous sites, transects, tree, tree nursery, unidentified, vine
Working With Funzi Turtle Club (Day 2)
Category: Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Environmental Education, Funzi turtle club, Turtles | Date: Nov 11 2009 | By: gvikenya
On our second day at Funzi, we were awoken to a panoramic view of dawn over the island which made our 6am wake up a lot easier. Our first port of call was to the Turtle Nesting Beach a good 45 minute walk from our base. The beach is not only a place which can be used by tourists but more importantly, is where the Turtle Club is trying to carry out their research for turtle numbers and nesting behaviour.
As we are used to early wake ups at GVI, everyone was awake and ready to go. Even at that time it was already getting hot but the walk was pleasant. Our walk took us again through the village and forests of Funzi.
Funzi Island forest
Walking through the forests you got a sense of its history, having been there for centuries. With tourists and foreigners only having visited and settled over the past 40 years, the forests remain mainly untouched. However, we were soon to discover that this was quickly changing. As we got closer to the beach area, the landscape changed to strips of cleared land on either side of us which had only months previously been forest. It was very disturbing to see such a distinct contrast. As we walked further, the cleared land again changed to newly planted eucalyptus plants. Only 10 minutes from the beach, whilst on the public footpath, we were stopped by guards and told very bluntly that we had to head back. Our early morning trip had been cut short.
Unfortunately a foreign landowner had taken most of the land on Funzi and made it his own. As a result, a majority of the land is being utilised at the detriment of the wildlife and the islanders. For us all, witnessing this conflict between conservation and development at first hand was very disappointing, we were of course keen on seeing the beach for ourselves, we were all aware and more concerned about the long term impact this would have, restricting the Funzi Turtle Club carrying out vital monitoring of the turtles and limiting tourist access, especially knowing that this was a public footpath.
Deflated, we headed back and after a short break to calm our frustrations, reflect and refuel we started our morning of lectures, more determined and conscious of the importance of our relationship and the positive difference that needed to be made.
A member of the Funzi Turtle Club having a closer view of the parrotfish family
Lectures started with Mangroves and were followed by Tourism and Marketing. Interest was again high and discussions were held. It was clear that the Club members had many years of experience and that knowledge and skills could be shared.
As we all knew, although it was a positive and productive 2 days, this is where the work actually started. Lectures were followed by a debate about the challenges faced and how they could be approached. Challenges faced were:
• Funding
o All Turtle Club Members are unpaid volunteers, spending a lot of their time on projects including regular mangrove planting, beach clean ups etc.
o Landowner paying Fishermen 500KSH for each turtle caught. How can the club compete with this as they want to ensure that turtles are in fact released and at the same time, use the Fishermen to monitor them?
• Fishermen
o Ways to convince fishermen to release the turtles caught.
o Education of over fishing and ways this can be reduced
• Time
o Finding the time to do this when all work is by volunteers who have family and other commitments.
Secondly there was a discussion around planning for tourism activities.
• Beach clean ups which would be an activity and raise awareness
• Camping / nesting beaches
• Handicrafts such as the flip flop necklaces
• Visits to the stunning white beaches of the Sandbar
• Crocodile River
• Mangrove visits and planting
• Visits of the historical sites such as the Kaya
• Dolphin sightings
• Homestays and cooking classes
Handicrafts made of flip-flops
For me, this was one of the highlights of my 5 weeks. Not only was I so lucky to get to visit this beautiful Island, but I was fortunate enough to meet many of it’s wonderful residents, all so eager to make our short stay pleasurable.
GVI staff, volunteers and Funzi Turtle Club members
In this age of air travel and discovery it is very rare to find a place on earth that is not heavily frequented by tourists, but you will currently have trouble finding Funzi on Google Maps. It is exciting to this that we can make a positive difference before a few people begin to destroy this beautiful place. It was wonderful to work so closely with such an active Club on such a worthwhile project and although I will be leaving before it even gets underway, I am certain that with the enthusiasm and dedication I saw and by working together and sharing knowledge and ideas, we’ll get there.
Chantal Woodun
Tags: , air travel, beach area, beach clean-ups, cleared land, conservation and development, cooking classes, crocodile river, distinct contrast, dolphin sighting, eucalyptus plants, flip flop, foregin landowner, forests of Funzi, Funzi Island, Google Maps, handicrafts, historical sites, homestays, knowledge and skills, Mangroves, nesting beaches, nesting behaviour, panoramic view, public footpath, sandbar, sense of history, tourism and marketing, tourist access, turtle club, Turtle nesting beach, vital monitoring
Working With The Funzi Turtle Club (Day 1)
Category: Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Funzi turtle club, Mangroves, Turtles | Date: Nov 10 2009 | By: gvikenya
This past Wednesday found the GVI marine team travelling from Wasini Island to Funzi Island for two days of training with the Funzi Bay Turtle Club, a local community effort to save endangered sea turtles. Currently there are about 30 members in the club, 20 of which, including the chair, are females from this traditional Muslim community on the island.
Since we usually spend our days on the water monitoring local and migratory marine species, to have two full days on dry land was quite a change of routine.
Douglas explaining the importance of sea turtle conservation
Upon arrival, we were met by one of the club members and taken to our house, where we met up with KESCOM volunteers Sonya and Avidad from Sweden, here for three months. KESCOM (Kenya Sea Turtle Conservation Committee) currently supports many grass-root turtle conservation efforts along the Kenyan coastline. This support comes in the form of monetary donations, grant writing, providing volunteers, management and contacts with other local organizations. Douglas is the KESCOM Funzi Island representative.
Jennifer LeClair giving the presentatoin about whales and dolphins
After our introductions we proceeded to the village for a tour and to the mangrove forest for a planting session. Since mangroves are among the fastest disappearing ecosystems in the world, each tree really counts! The turtle club also runs a shop with some very unique gifts made by local community members, and we all spend some time and money there.
Following a fabulous meal cooked by the ladies of the turtle club (one of many such delicious meals) we began our training with the group. Our goal was to help the club members learn to interact with tourists and to give them information that tourists would like to hear, in addition to giving them important information about habitat conservation. We showed a number of PowerPoint presentations to the group and with the help of Douglas on the Swahili translation, gave them information about ocean conservation, sea turtle identification and morphology, and local whale and dolphin species. Club members were extremely interested in learning and asked a number of thought provoking questions following each presentation.
Mangroves
One of the most common questions asked by the community members was how to explain to the other islanders (100% of which are fishermen) topics regarding conservation of the ocean environment. We were able to provide some examples, but in the end had to explain that changing people’s minds is a very slow process. Since entanglement in discarded fishing nets is one of the biggest threats to marine animals, we suggested that this was a good issue to start with in the community. We were very impressed with the concern of the club members about the welfare of the ocean habitats and animals, especially in an area of the country where ecosystem destruction and human disturbance is prevalent.
Overall, both sides seemed very pleased with the progress made during the first day of training. The volunteers of GVI would like to thank KESCOM and the Funzi Bay Turtle Club for there generous hospitality and delicious traditional food.
Mangroves of Funzi Island
Tags: , change of routine, club members, dolphin species, ecosystem destruction, endangered seas turtles, entanglement in disgarded fishing nets, funzi bay, Funzi Island, Funzi Tirtle Club, grant writing, grass0roots turlte conservatoin, human disturbance, Kenya Sea Turtle Conservation Committee, Kenyan coastline, KESCOM, local community members, local marine species, local organisations, mangrove ecosystems, migratory marine species, monetary donations, morphology, ocean conservation, ocean environment, powerpoint presentations, sea turtle identification, swahili translations, thought provoking questions, threats to marine mammals, tourists, traditional Muslim community, turtle club, unique gifts, volunteers, wasini island, whale species
A Room With A View
Category: Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Mangroves, Shimoni Forest | Date: Oct 19 2009 | By: gvikenya
If you cast your eyes back over a few of our blogs recently you’ll read about the tourist trail that Friends of Shimoni Forest are creating. This trail is going to run through Shimoni forest to show tourists some of the amazing flora and fauna to be seen, it will take them on a visit to a couple of the sacred Kaya’s or traditional religious sites, and it will take them past some of the amazing mangrove forests that run along the whole eastern coastline.
An example of some of the mangroves
Mangroves are some of the most amazing trees in the world. They tend to inhabit coastlines, estuaries or river mouths, and form some of the most critical habitats on the planet. They act as nurseries and hunting grounds for countless aquatic species, as well as a home to many terrestrial species such as baboons and genets. They also act as a buffer zone between fresh water bodies and the sea for runoff, silts and pollution. They are also the only tree species that can exist in salt water!
Mangroves happily exist on beaches
Because of their importance, coupled with the fact they are exceptionally cool, means they are a site not to be missed on the tourist trail. There is one particular spot where the tourists are going to be taken where at least five different species of mangrove can be seen, and where they extend unbroken for kilometers.
The original idea was to create a boardwalk through the mangroves, which the tourists would be taken along. This idea was scrapped, mainly because there are several mangrove boardwalks already in the area, and we wanted ours to be extra special. So we have come up with the idea of a viewing platform! We want to build a very tall (and very safe of course…) structure of some sort, on which the tourists can sit, drink a cup of chai and look out over the huge expanse of mangroves to the east, and the towering trees of shimoni forest to the south and west. We think this will deliver a unique experience to people who have come to see this stunning area.
One of the magnificent trees of Shimoni forest
Of course there are going to be many issues involved in the creation of this structure. We are not sure yet what materials will be used in the construction, but bamboo has been suggested already. The structure will need to be built on coral rag (fossilised coral), which will not be the simplest base for a tall structure…! Then of course there is the issue of finances, which as ever, will probably be the hardest to overcome. But overcome it shall be! It will be the best view in Kenya (excluding Mount Kenya perhaps…)!
Tags: aquatic species, baboons, bamboo, boardwalk, buffer zone, chai, coastline, coral rag, critical habitat, estuaries, fauna, finance, flora, fossilised coral, fresh water bodies, Friends of Shimoni Forest, genets, hunting grounds, issues, Kenya, mangrove forest, materials, Mount Kenya, nurseries, planet, pollution, river mouth, runoff, sacred Kaya, Shimoni Forest, silts, structure, terrestrial species, tourist trail, traditional religious sites, unique experience, viewing platform
Disturbance Report Submitted
Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging, Primate Research, Shimoni Forest | Date: Oct 15 2009 | By: gvikenya
East African coastal forests are some of the most critical habitats for wildlife conservation in the world. Once upon a time they were a continuous belt that stretched from Somalia down to Mozambique, and were home to some of Africa’s most diverse and unique wildlife. Unfortunately today, what remains are small, isolated and fragmented patches, in which the wildlife is becoming more and more vulnerable.
One of the many new roads scarring the forest
GVI has been conducting disturbance surveys in Shimoni forest for over three years now, and have a solid and robust set of data, which highlight the plight of this beautiful area. The main aim for our research in the forest, is to be able to hand it over to Friends of Shimoni Forest (a community-based organisation), which will empower them to lobby, apply or petition for things like land allocation or protective status for the forest.
The work of illegal loggers
We have been very encouraged recently however, as government organisations and the local administration have actively approached us for our data and results, as they too are very concerned with the level of destruction. Off the back of this, we have spent a lot of time putting together a disturbance report, which summarises our results over the years. This report has been written on behalf of Friends of Shimoni Forest, and has been submitted to Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service, the Chairman of the County Council, the District Commissioner, the East African Wildlife Society and the IUCN.
A charcoal pit in action
It is massively encouraging to know that our results are being looked at by so many people, and that the number and range of people concerned with this destruction is ever increasing. We cannot wait to work with everyone in the future, so that together we can put a stop to it.
Tags: , administration, Chairman of the County Council, Charcoal Pit, critical habitat, data, destruction, District Commissioner, disturbance, diverse, East African coastal forest, East African Wildlife Society, fragmanted patches, Friends of Shimoni Forest, government organisations, illegal loggers, isolated, IUCN, Kenya Forest Service, Mozambique, results, robust, Somalia, surveys, unique wildlife, vulnerable, wildlife conservation
Digging Our Way To Kasaani
Category: Community Conservation, Ex-poachers, Tsavo West Sustainable Development Programme | Date: Sep 15 2009 | By: gvikenya
So, as I wrote about before, a small team of us had two weeks to lay a 3.5km water pipeline from Salita bore hole to Kasaani village. And bring them a water supply for the first time in living memory.
We didn’t have any kind of modern machinery to help us. Instead we had a collection of hoes and spades. And 3.5km of red earth baked rock hard by the Tsavo sun. However we also had the community members of Kasaani, by our sides, literally day and night; to teach us their digging techniques, to swell our numbers from 7 to over 70 on some days, to sing us songs, tell us stories, make us laugh when the going got beyond tough, to make us cups of hot sweet Kenyan chai at the end of a long day, even to cook us dinner when we barely had the energy to walk home. They sat with us around the campfire until we went to bed, and they were there waiting for us at sunrise the next morning.
Their belief in the project and their commitment to making it work, within our 2 weeks, left us with no doubt that it would happen… even on the morning of day 2, when we returned to Salita village to admire the maiden 80m of trench we’d dug the first day… only to find there was no trench. It had been filled in. In its place was a group of rather upset, rather intimidating, Maasai women. It turns out that despite the project leaders dutifully going through the process of informing all stakeholders, including the Maasai leaders, the message had not been passed down to their Maasai community. In a region where living is a daily struggle and resources hard to come by it is understandable that the women of the community were alarmed by the ’sudden’ rush of activity to divert precious water from their borehole. Over and above that, there are certain protocols that should be respected!
Disheartening as it was to see our previous day’s hard work undone, it was an interesting and very genuine cultural insight, as members of Taveta District council teamed up with the Maasai leaders to explain the project, explain the surveys that showed there was sufficient water in the borehole to supply both villages, and thanks to the local MP, to promise a new water pump that would actually increase the flow of water through their tap. So by mid afternoon, with protocol duly complied with, we were back with the chattering, smiling Maasai women who had watched us the day before and more importantly back with spades and hoes in hand. We made sure we reached 100m before putting them down, just to feel that we had made some progress that day.
The rest of the week was thankfully less ‘eventful’, characterised by a daily increase in blisters, sore muscles and physical exhaustion! The ground was hard… very very hard. Even with up to 30 of Kasaani’s human digging machines putting us to shame, were closer to a third of the way by the end of week one, not half way where we needed to be! The weekend off became just the Sunday off as we spent Saturday playing catch up until we could no longer physically raise a hoe above our heads.
Fortunately the villagers of Kasaani spent the weekend rallying the troops and with some astute negotiations from David the chairman of the Kasaani ex-poachers group, the following Monday saw 50 villagers join us. Before the end of week 2 we had close to 80 and come Thursday morning we had the privilege to be laying 3.5km of pipes along a trench that stretched from Salita to Kasaani… 3.5km of blood, sweat and tears!
Standing in Kasaani village at 8pm on Thursday night to watch the first water flow down the pipe, it was almost too close a call for comfort… but we had the sheer overwhelming joy of seeing water make its way, finally, to Kasaani. Not quite all the way; a dodgy connection along the pipework meant we didn’t quite get to see it flow from the tap, but the hard work had been completed and we could leave Kasaani Friday morning knowing that all that stood between the villagers collecting water from their very own supply were a few hours of tinkering with pipe connections.
The final sighs of relief and tears of emotion came the following Tuesday morning. David called to tell us that the villagers of Kasaani were filling up their 20l water containers from the tap in their village! But the actual reason he called was simply to thank us… they finally had water in their village and it meant the world to them.
Tags: ex-poacher groups, kasaani village, salita village, tsavo west national park, water access, water pipeline
Bringing Water to Kasaani
Category: Community Conservation, Ex-poachers, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Tsavo West Sustainable Development Programme | Date: Sep 09 2009 | By: gvikenya
It was back in early 2007 that GVI first met and began to work with the community of Kasaani village… in many ways your ’stereotypical’ rural dusty Kenyan community trying to scrape a living from the land.
The Tsavo landscape around Kasaani village
In their case the land lies on the very edge of Tsavo West National Park. The landscape is stunning with views of Chyulu Hills and Taita Hills dotting the Kenyan plains to the North and East, the impressive North Pare Mountains of Tanzania to the South and, when the clouds clear, the majestic Mt Kilimanjaro to the West.
Collecting water from the neighbouring village of Cess
However it makes for tough living, the rains so unpredictable that their efforts at subsistence farming are more like a lottery than a livelihood. It’s not just the crops that suffer from lack of water; the community of Kasaani have never had a water source in their village and normal daily life requires the men, women and children to make a 5km round trip to their nearest source. Those lucky enough to have a bicycle can fetch 60l at a time, on foot you have to triple the number of journeys. Beatrice highlighted just one example of how they are forced to economise on water when she pointed to a group of children and told me how they don’t wash their children’s clothes when they need to because they just can’t spare the water.
Some of the curious children at Kasaani
Poor access to potable water is cited as one of the key objectives of the millennium development goals. So getting water to this community that we have been working with to promote sustainable alternative livelihoods in place of poaching and the bush meat trade has become a priority… with volunteer manpower and some funding sourced, we set ourselves the challenge - 3.5km of trenches to be dug to run a water pipeline from the borehole at Salita village.
We teamed up with Taveta District Council’s Constituency Development Fund to co-finance the project and bring the expertise, and we, our volunteers and the ex-poachers of Kasaani teamed up for two weeks of digging.
At the outset it seemed a huge task for our team armed only with pangas, hoes and spades but when on the first day we took the 5km round trip with a 20l container to get our own water the value of the project struck home and the seeds of determination were sown.
Our own attempts to fetch water from the nearest supply
Stay tuned for our progress,
Corti
Tags: alternative livelihoods, bush meat trade, sustainable development, tsavo west national park, water access
Charcoal - The Real Issue…
Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Shimoni Forest | Date: Aug 26 2009 | By: gvikenya
So everyone knows about the problems related to unregulated, inefficient and illegal charcoal burning. It’s very easy for one to sit back and point the finger at the people conducting these activities, labeling them criminals. The real issue however, is slightly more complex than that.
We have been conducting research in Shimoni forest for over three years, and have been working with the community group Friends of Shimoni Forest for two and a half years. Through all of this we have had a lot of experience with the issue of charcoal burning, and have countless meetings (both organized and impromptu) with the charcoal burners themselves. What we’ve found in the majority of cases, is that these people do not want to be charcoal burning any more than we do. The difference being, we have the luxury of choice.
The result of a charcoal pit
The vast majority of people in this area are living below the poverty line, and are desperately poor. They have families to feed and school fees to pay for, and they don’t have any choice. They know charcoal burning is illegal, and they know it does huge damage to the forest. Most of them would muc rather be doing something else, but if it comes down to feeding their families – it’s not even a choice. We have been asked by so may of them to find them alternatives, to offer them a choice. And if a choice was offered, they would happily give it up.
An earth-mound kiln ready to light
So that’s our mission. The solution to the problem is clear: find an alternative to charcoal burning. One thing we need to remember is that everyone in the entire area (and most of the country) use charcoal to cook. So not only do we need to find an alternative income for the burners themselves, but we need to find a charcoal replacement otherwise we will have only solved half of the problem.
The obvious way around this is combine the alternative livelihoods with the production of alternative, forest friendly charcoal!
To the internet! I will be back in the next day or two with what I’ve found…
Tags: , alternative livlihoods, charcoal, Charcoal Burning, criminals, Friends of Shimoni Forest, inefficient, poor, poverty line, Shimoni Forest, unregulated
Stop Press: Eco-tourism In Shimoni Forest As Featured In The Lonely Planet!
Category: Coastal Forest, Colobus, Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Shimoni Forest | Date: Aug 19 2009 | By: gvikenya
Hello there,
My question for the day: how do you find Shimoni Forest? Well, a good place to start is the Lonely Planet…
A year ago when we were in the early stages of planning community-based eco-tourism with guided walks in Shimoni Forest to see the beautiful Angolan black and white colobus monkeys in their natural habitat as an alternative, sustainable use of forest resources, we had a surprise visitor… a travel writer from the Lonely Planet.
We plied him with as much information as we could about the planned guided walks in Shimoni forest and also community-based cultural tourism in Mkwiro, where we have our marine research base and work closely with a community that has many challenges in accessing the tourism revenue that Kisite Marine Park brings to the area. It is fair to say that at the time, everything was very much a ‘work in progress’ and we have continued to support the development of these initiatives over the last year.
But I am ecstatic to report that the Lonely Planet put their faith in our optimism, and have put both Shimoni Forest and Mkwiro village on the map - or at least in the pages of their latest edition of the Kenya Lonely Planet. This is about the best free marketing we could have hoped for.
In actual fact, the first we knew of Shimoni and Mkwiro’s recent rise to backpacker prominence was when an excited Faridi, our friend in Mkwiro, received a phone call for a Mkwiro homestay booking. Within days Athumani, treasurer of Friends of Shimoni Forest, had an enquiry about a guided walk in Shimoni Forest. It took a few more days before we found out where the leads had come from, and it gives us a huge amount of encouragement. So now the challenge is on to get the communities up to speed and delivering a professional, enjoyable and worthwhile eco-tourism experience, but it is a challenge we are relishing!
As you have been reading we have been out cutting the tourist trails but to ensure we are offering an eco-tourism experience that is both professional and educational, we really need to find financial support for Friends of Shimoni Forest; to access some of the sacred kaya sites over the coral rag we will need to construct a raised boardwalk to keep visitors safely on their feet, we hope to compile signs and information boards and an information centre with restaurant to enable visitors to spend the day exploring the rich forest wildlife on their ‘Shimoni safari’!
We see this as an invaluable opportunity to raise awareness about the conservation of Shimoni’s coastal forest and the wider eco-region and to engage the local community in generating sustainable revenue from their forest resources and wildlife rather than exploiting them through extraction of timber and charcoal. Our coastal forests are a Global Biodiversity Hotspot and it seems only fitting that we tap in to the global community to support their conservation. So we are asking all of you that would like to help contribute to community-based conservation in Shimoni and safeguard the future of the colobus in their natural habitat to consider donating towards this cause.
The support of the Lonely Planet has really instilled the confidence in us all here in Shimoni to make this happen and we hope that it will instill confidence in you to donate the much needed funds.
Here’s to a brighter future in Shimoni,
Corti
Tags: angolan black and white colobus, Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Friends of Shimoni Forest, lonely planet, Shimoni Forest
Wasini Locally Managed Marine Area Receive Further Training
Category: Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Environmental Education, Wasini Locally Managed Marine Area | Date: Aug 18 2009 | By: gvikenya
Thursday was a slightly different day for the marine team, as we headed to the other side of Wasini Island to give a series of lectures to the Wasini Locally Managed Marine Area (WLMMA) group. We headed out from Mkwiro in two groups; one on foot along the path of the mangroves on the north side of Wasini Island and the other in Squirrel, our boat, travelling west along the channel to reach our destination, Wasini Village.
On our arrival we were ushered to the local football club building by Feisal, one of the committee members of the WLMMA, the group we would be giving lectures to for the day. We waited patiently for the rest of the villagers and members to arrive. The day began with a prayer by one of the village elders, a man of eminent presence, dressed from head to toe in flowing white with a kofia, but also with a touch of the modern day with a hearing aid and flashy sunglasses. Before the presentations kicked off everyone introduced themselves, and we learnt that amongst the members present there were several fishermen and elders of the village.
Sergi giving a presentation
The Wasini LMMA committee began in 2003, when PACT Kenya visited several villages around the Shimoni peninsula area of the south coast. Their aim was to educate the people of these areas on the value of the environment around them and ways to conserve it, as well as highlighting particular marine areas near the villages that were susceptible to the negative impacts of tourism and over-fishing. The locally managed marine area of Wasini runs from the west tip of the island around the coast finishing mid-way along the north side of the island, encompassing several areas of mangroves and also the reef in front of the village. The group have already introduced and enforced the use of mooring buoys due to the devastating impact of the anchors of the many dolphin dhows that stop to have lunch in Wasini village. They also have daily boat patrols to apprehend anyone using illegal fishing techniques that damage the reef, including spear-gun and dynamite fishing.
Emma mid-presentation
The group’s main project at present is to take tourists out to a section of the reef for snorkelling trips. So our job was to give lectures and educate the group on several aspects of the marine environment. The lectures included conservation, mangroves, marine mammal biology, whale and dolphin species, sea turtles, reef fish, marketing and company etiquette. The presentations went brilliantly with the students being extremely involved, asking many questions whilst also teaching our volunteers; Kiswahili names and some local traditions.
However we did not spend the whole day in lectures and there was time to have a chai and cake break, lunch in a new eco-friendly restaurant with a delicacy of sea grass on the menu, and a game of football with some of the local children. We were also taken out to the snorkelling area which was an amazing experience. The guys had warned us that we would not see fish any where near the size of the fish found in Kisite-Mpunguti MPA, but this did not damper the experience at all, it just meant everything was miniature! Amongst the many fish species observed we saw anemonefish, an Indian lionfish (Pterois muricata) lurking beneath an over hanging rock, Black-saddled tobies Canthigaster valentine, juvenile Black snappers (Macolor niger) and an Emperor angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator) elegantly gliding around the reef. All in all a very rewarding day for everyone involved!
Tags: anemonefish, black snapper, cake, chai, Community Conservation, emporer angelfish, indian lionfish, lectures, local traditions, marine environment, marine mammal, Wasini Locally Managed Marine Area, workshop
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